DESCRIPTION (APPLICANT'S ABSTRACT): This application requests partial funding for the sixth consecutive FASEB Summer Research Conference on "Chromatin and Transcription," to be held on July 7-12. 2001, at the Conference Center in Snowmass Village, Colorado. The goal of this highly successful meeting is to foster interactions between researchers who study DNA-templated processes with individuals who study chromatin structure and organization. These disciplines are moving together at rapid pace. Speakers are confirmed for the sessions listed below. New investigators to the field will be invited to participate. I. Interactions Between Gene Regulatory Complexes and Chromatin II. Histones, Nucleosomes, and Higher Order Structure Ill. Chromatin Modification and Gene Expression IV. Heterochromatin and Gene Silencing V. Chromosome Structure and Long-Range Chromatin Organization VI. Epigenetic and Developmental Regulation VII. Replication and Repair of Chromatin VIII. Transcription Factor Function IX. Higher Order Transcription Factor Complexes in Chromatin The meeting's central topic is the relationship between chromatin and transcription. The regulation of chromatin impacts other critical biological areas; for instance, there are important links between chromatin and nuclear structure, chromosome organization, and the cell cycle, particularly relating to recent discoveries about histone modification. Moreover, questions of genomic stability and instability, which are relevant to genetic disease, will be addressed in a session on developmental/epigenetic regulation. The timing and location of the 2001 conference are ideal for productive and interactive discussions about data in these rapidly evolving areas.